Last Regret
by lancecomwar
Summary: After a lifetime of Regrets, Kakashi is finally ready to move on.


Kakashi Hatake's life has been one of regret.

Regret for his father's actions.

Regret for his perceived role in his comrade Obito's death.

Regret for his inability to keep his promise and protect Rin.

Regret for standing ideally by when his Sensei died defending the village.

Regret for focusing on his work, for abandoning his Sensei's orphan son.

Regret for forgetting Obito's words, for pushing away his other students and focusing on his fellow genius.

Regret for being unable to save Sasuke from the darkness he had feared would consume him.

Regret… for failing Obito.

As he had many times before, Kakashi was standing in front of the Konoha Memorial Stone. Kakashi had spent hours of his life before this stone, wasting away in mourning of all of his mistakes and failures. Praying that this would make Obito somehow forgive him.

But now, things were different.

Slow , his eyes focused on where he knew a certain name was located- one he had known by heart, for some unknown soul had crudely crossed through the name with a kunai, leaving it unreadable.

Not that Kakashi could blame whoever did so. After all, that one name had done more than enough damage to deserve it.

For what seemed like forever, Kakashi stared at the name engraved in the stone, rendered unreadable. Just like the shinobi who had been engraved in his mind for so long, rendered forever altered by the reality of what just happened.

"Hey, Obito," Kakashi said softly to the gravel. "It's been awhile, hasn't it? Though… I guess it's been a lot less long than I thought," he chuckled humorlessly as he thought back to recent events.

"It… it was really nice seeing you again, despite everything," Kakashi admitted. "I know what happened may not have been the war we wanted things to go… but at least we got to part on good terms."

Kakashi chuckled silently to himself. "I bet you're wondering why someone like me is wasting time saying goodbye a second time when there's shinobi work to be done," he joked, thinking back to the way he once was.

He sighed, his eyes wavering from the name. "After you- after everyone died," he began, pain shooting through his veins as he talked about the past. "I tried my best to emulate you. I tried to trust my comrades, tried to help others… hell, I even picked up your lateness habit."

He sighed bitterly. "But it was all an act," he finally admitted to himself. "I became so obsessed with emulating the ideal of you, I forgot to emulate the _spirit _of you. You truly did care about your comrades, about Rin and even me. And you were always late, yes… but you always had a perfectly good reason."

Kakashi chuckled to himself. "I, on the other hand… I just used it as an excuse. An excuse to run away from reality. An excuse to come back here and wonder… '_What if?'_ I… I turned my back on my comrades… from those who needed my help. I became so obsessed with becoming a good enough ninja for both of us, I forgot to become a good enough _man _for both of us.

Gently, his hand reached up to his left eye- for years, this had been Obito's last parting gift, an eye from which Kakashi could see the future for Obito. Now, he had no ones eyes but his own.

"You told me to see the future for you," Kakashi continued, his hand dropping down to rest by his side. "But I guess that dream's over now, huh? Now, I can't just rely on your eye… I'll need to do my best to see the future how it should be by my own two eyes."

He stared up, at the bright sun, the symbol of life and a new beginning. "You will always be my hero, Obito," he declared. "Even after what you became, the young boy who saved me all those years ago will always be who I aspire to be. Now… I just need to make sure I actually remember to do so."

He stared down once more at the Memorial Statue, a faint smile hidden beneath his mask. "Today's the day I'm appointed Hokage. I'm going to have the weight of the future on my hands. I'll try to do what you believed was right, but I won't be weighed down by it. I'll forge my own path. I guess what I'm trying to say… Is goodbye Obito. I won't be coming to visit as much as I used to. From now on… I need to live by what you believed, and not wallow in regret."

Satisfied with his speech, he turned around. But before he left, he gave one last glance back at the stone he had spent years obsessing over. "Don't wait up for me, though. I'll try to be a bit late for this one, too."

With that, he vanished in a swirl of leaves, leaving the Memorial Stone behind.

Of course, he didn't head straight to his Hokage Office his his crowning ceremony. He had kept them waiting a few extra minutes so far, after all. And besides that, he had promised a sweet old lady he'd help her shopping and take her out to dinner.

Some habits were hard to break, after all.

He just needed to make sure he improved on them.

After all, after everything that happened, after staring his own regret in the face… he was finally ready to move on.

* * *

Oh hey, this is just a short drabble I wrote in half an hour. Not usually my thing, but I just really wanted to have something like this be in the actual manga so I figured I'd write a short thing about it. So here it is! Review if you liked it and whatever lol


End file.
